Background: Problem-solving ability is an important skill for students to develop in the 21st century. Many previous studies have focused on the impact of diverse digital educational games on problem-solving ability. However, there is inconsistency in the findings, with some studies reporting positive effects of digital game-based learning (DGBL)…

To date, extensive work has been devoted to incorporating computational thinking in K-12 education. Recognizing students' computational thinking stages in game-based learning environments is essential to capture unproductive learning and provide appropriate scaffolding. However, few reliable and valid computational thinking measures have been…

Contribution: We present a framework for teachers to investigate the relationships between attributes of students' solutions in the process of problem solving or computational thinking. We provide visualization and evaluation techniques to find hidden patterns in the students' solutions which allow teachers to predict the specific behavior of…

Students frequently struggled with the mathematizing process -- forging connections between implicit and explicit mathematical thinking -- when solving a context-rich applied problem. The current research investigated how students interact with and leverage purposively designed "mathematizing" supports when solving applied math problems…

Enhancing students' civic literacy is considered an essential educational goal in the 21st century. Therefore, in the teaching process, how to provide students with opportunities to solve problems and how to provide immediate feedback to help students make correct decisions when facing real problems are important and challenging issues. Digital…

Background: Game-based learning can frame problem-solving as a sense-making experience with domain-specific tasks for school students. However, multiple challenges arise when trying to support learners in such a complex, problem-oriented learning environment. Objectives and Methods: With an architecture-themed mathematics learning game, we…

Play is crucial to children's development. With the prevalent use of digital technologies, children and young adults are seen playing games more often and longer on digital devices. How should teachers capitalize the advantages of games in class, without inducing more health risks or problems for children? To achieve this goal, teachers need…

Background: For learners with intellectual disability, it is a challenge and crucial issue to foster their life skills. These learners generally encounter several problems during the learning process, such as difficulties paying and maintaining attention, difficulties with memory and application and slow learning ability. Life skills training can…

Building on the original work of Bunker and Thorpe and their Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) approach to physical education, there is now a proliferation of Game Based Approaches (GBA) in the research literature (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982, A model for the teaching of games in secondary schools. "Bulletin of Physical Education,"…

Middle school students often enter Computer Science (CS) classes without previous CS or Computational Thinking (CT) instruction. This study evaluated how Code.org's block-based programming curriculum affects middle school students' CT skills and attitudes toward CT and CS. Sixteen students participated in the study. This was a mixed methods action…

This study examines the effectiveness of a collaborative support method in enhancing programming learning outcomes in a serious game. The game Code Hasp was developed to facilitate the comparison between two support methods, worked examples and a collaborative peer support approach. A total of 111 elementary school students participated, divided…

Recently, alternate reality games (ARGs) have been applied in museum learning to encourage learners' active engagement through playful problem-solving activities. However, most learners have insufficient prior knowledge and metacognitive skills to complete the learning tasks in such games. To support learning with ARGs, there is a need to provide…

This study focuses on the development and evaluation of a challenge-based hybrid learning approach utilizing a virtual board games platform to enhance international standard student competency. Our research applies educational management theories to challenge-based learning, providing learners with diverse opportunities for engagement,…

In this exploratory study, we designed and validated game-based performance tasks to assess the development of representational flexibility in autistic adolescents through virtual reality (VR)-based training. Representational flexibility, a critical cognitive ability, involves attention switching, generating representations, and recognizing…

Using game-based learning (GBL) and digital game-based learning (DGBL) as a teaching and learning environment can be a pedagogical resource and a good strategy in the classroom to support mathematical learning (Santos et al., 2023). Even though primary school teachers are demonstrating strong preferences for using non-digital games instead of…